Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) chaired a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (L), National Security Advisor Ajit Doval (R) and the military top brass, New Delhi, April 29, 2025 In a timely reminder, even as Indians are demanding robust retaliation for the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir, the US president Donald Trump pulled …
Trump’s diplomacy gains traction, silences sceptics
US President Donald Trump (L) met privately with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at St. Peter’s Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, Vatican, April 26, 2025 The US President Donald Trump is a lone ranger in international arena and a self-confessed practitioner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absolute maxim that ours is not …
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US, Iran take a leap forward in trust building
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian (C) at an exhibition “National Day of Nuclear Technology”, Tehran, April 9, 2025 With the foreplay over and US-Iranian talks commencing in Muscat on Saturday, a constructive engagement has begun in right earnestness. The sure sign of it is that Iran’s currency rose nearly 6 percent on Sunday. The Tehran bazaar, …
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Steve Witkoff’s Iran mission holds seamless possibilities
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s senior aide on Russia negotiations, is expected to kickstart talks with Tehran (File photo) The rubric of the US-Iranian talks slated for Saturday in Muscat turned into a vanity fair of sorts — whether the talks should be called ‘indirect’ or ‘direct’. The US President Donald Trump sought direct talks and …
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Russia and the US made “three steps forward” after two days of consultations in Washington
Russian president’s Special Representative on investment and economic cooperation Kirill Dmitriev had two days of consultations with US administration officials, Washington, DC, April 3, 2025 The visit by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special representative of the Russian president for investment and economic cooperation Kirill Dmitriev to Washington on April 2-3, the …
Trump-Putin parley is a bit under the weather
US president Donald Trump (L) with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in attendance, Oval Office, White House, March 21, 2025 (File photo) The Kremlin apparently came to the conclusion last week that it was about time to do some plain-speaking that US president Donald Trump’s quest for a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine war was a …
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A Third Way to end the war in Ukraine
Ukraine’s president Vladimir Zelensky (L) with European leaders and NATO chief at the European summit, Paris, March 27, 2025 In an unguarded moment, perhaps, ex-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson blurted out recently in an interview that the ultranationalist elements who rule the roost in Kiev are a formidable obstacle to ending the war in Ukraine. For …
India’s public diplomacy falls flat
Does the Narendra Modi government have a stance on the Ukraine conflict at all? All things taken into account, the Raisina Dialogue 2025 turned out to be a wasteful extravaganza. Someone in authority should order an auditing. Public diplomacy is not about event management. The MEA may be favouring some non-official agency for reasons best …
A détente struggling to be born
The New Indian Express, March 28, 2025 A détente struggling to be born Trump wants a reset with Russia. But the US Deep State and Europeans are making the Ukraine endgame tougher. In private, Putin is indicating he is ready to deal M K Bhadrakumar Donald Trump’s strategy of focusing on a limited ceasefire in …
Talk of US-Iran war is all a load of baloney
The US special envoy for Middle East Steve Witkoff has disclosed that Tehran has made back channel contacts following a recent letter from President Trump (L) addressed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) suggesting talks. The air is thick with the prognosis that a military confrontation between the US and Iran is now …
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